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Thursday, January 12, 2017

Undergraduate of the Year ‘Future CFO’ 2016 winner Molly Ashton visits the capital of the European Union

Shortly about to commence her final year of
studies before starting a graduate role in Tax at PwC, Molly was chosen as our
winner. Intelligent, with an adaptive thought process having the power to
influence others, she showed all of the skills desirable for a future CFO.
Molly also proves that you don't have to fit a certain mould to become an
accountant: she is an avid fashion and beauty blogger, traveller, and animal
lover! She describes her trip to Brussels in her bloghere

With our finalists being asked to debate the threats
and opportunities associated with BREXIT for a small to medium business owner,
a part of Molly’s prize was the unique opportunity to spend 2 days in the
European Headquarter in Brussels, to meet with influential business advisors, EU
officials, and even getting an exclusive tour of the European Parliament,
organised by ACCA Brussels office.

First on the agenda was a meeting with Clara Lemaire,
Head of the Brussels Office of Centrica, Sean McGuiree, Director of the CBI
Brussels office and Cian Rice, director of EU Government relations for
Barclays. They all stressed that the Brexit vote had increased the necessity for
UK businesses to have a presence in Brussels. This allows companies to obtain
intelligence on, and influence policies affecting their activities, and also to
act as a link between the EU institutions and their UK offices. Meeting with
influential people in the financial sector in Brussels helped Molly to
understand some of the wider issues taking place following on from the BREXIT
vote. Molly also heard a presentation by our Brussels office on ACCA’s EU
affairs activities and on how Brussels works.

On Day 2 of the trip, after
a meeting with Peter Ujvari, a member of ACCA Corporate Reporting Global Forum and
senior IFRS expert at the KBC bank, Molly received an exclusive invite to the
European Commission and to the European Parliament. One of the Commission's
main roles is to propose legislation, which is then adopted by the
co-legislators, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.

The ACCA delegation
visited the Directorate General in charge for Financial Stability,
Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA), where Valérie Ledure, an ACCA member and
the Deputy Head of the Accounting and Financial Reporting Unit, gave an
overview of the work of the European Commission in general, and of her unit,
more specifically.

The group then had the opportunity to get a private
guided tour around the impressive European Parliament by Rhiannon Price, the
Senior Policy Advisor of Welsh MEP Kay Swinburne, predominantly active in the
field of financial services.

After lunch at the EP’s canteen, the ACCA group
was joined by Andrea Laskava, a special adviser to EPP’s President MEP Manfred
Weber, who shared with us precious insights on the functioning of the EP and the
internal political games.

In addition to better understanding the role of
the European institutions, Molly also got to enjoy the cultural side of
Brussels with visits to the Magritte Museum, the Royal Palace, the old town
centre and of course eating Belgian waffles and frites.

Reflecting on the trip Molly said:

"I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to
Brussels, understanding more about the EU parliament and what ACCA's role is in
the city was really interesting. It was strange to go from ACCA's huge London HQ
to an office of two members in Brussels who work more closely with the
parliament and commission to understand policies. The trip has helped me
understand how diverse ACCA's role is across the world and has definitely
intrigued me to find out more in the future!"